This invention relates generally to managing parking spaces, and more particularly, to determining and broadcasting the availability of vehicle parking spaces.
Motorists often become frustrated while searching for an available parking space. The frustration increases as the searching continues, because random searching does not assure the motorist an on-street or facility parking space within a fixed amount of time. Systems to determine and communicate the availability of parking spaces could lead to more efficient use of existing parking facilities in crowded city centers.
The prior art includes some systems for detecting available parking spaces. These systems rely on separate sensing apparatus positioned at each parking space. One system places a separate transmitter-receiver pair at each parking space. The presence of a vehicle at the space is detected by a partial interruption or reflection of the transmitted signal. Such transmitter-receiver pairs can be unreliable in various weather conditions. For example, snow, mud, or water may cover or partially occlude ground-level transmitters thereby causing the presence or absence of a vehicle to be misinterpreted. Devices located at individual parking spaces can also be physically damaged. For example, vehicle traffic into and out of the spaces can damage components located at ground-level. Placing a detection device at each parking space may also be prohibitively expensive, especially when the cost of wiring or other systems for communicating to a central location is included.
Other systems inform motorists of the availability of parking in a facility, e.g., a parking garage, by hanging a "FULL" or "NOT FULL" sign at the entrance, but the motorist may still waste time coming to a full facility. Also, such signs may not accurately reflect the status of the facility after time has elapsed.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing, one or more of the problems set forth above.